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0:13Skip to 0 minutes and 13 secondsThe energy transition to a low carbon economy also implies the electrification of several fossil-fuel-based processes. Among others, transport is one of the net contributors to climate change. Within this category there is big difference between transportation of raw materials, energy and goods (by plane, ship, train or lorry) and people’s mobility. In western societies people are moving around very often, either for business or just for leisure, and also in their every day life, as commuters. Traffic jams represent a time and money waste, and they pollute the cities gravely affecting the quality of the air and generating multiple diseases.

0:59Skip to 0 minutes and 59 secondsSmart citizens are changing dramatically their way of life, for example, reducing their needs for transport by working from home, instead of going to the office every day. This represents a change in the mentality of workers and employers, as well as a new entrepreneurial paradigm based on people’s self-initiative. Besides this change of behaviour, nowadays buying a car in a city is often a bad choice. The cost of acquisition and maintenance, finding where to park and accidents, are threatening the traditional concept of having a car. The challenge is to keep the right to mobility, but moving from asset property to mobility service. It impacts positively in people’s wellness and environment.

1:45Skip to 1 minute and 45 secondsA community of people can share a single car: less materials, energy and costs. Several platforms offering these services, allow people to organize themselves in this sense. Even more, a new collaborative economy can be built upon this concept of service. In this context, and even though any type of car can be used, car sharing is taking off with electric vehicles across the main cities of Europe. This combination offers a new lifestyle that empowers people and reduces pollution. This change requires a specific regulation to coexist with current transportation business, such as the taxi sector. This is a clear example of collision between old and new businesses, and it highlights the complexity of the smart city transformation.

2:34Skip to 2 minutes and 34 secondsPublic institutions, through their competent authority, have to define rules aiming to preserve the consumer’s rights, as well as those of the different stakeholders.

2:45Skip to 2 minutes and 45 secondsThe smart citizen also moves along medium and long distances. The passenger of the future will use the inter-modal transport, or mixed-mode commuting, that involves two or more models of transportation in a single journey, instead of using a private car, usually for a single person. This reduces the dependence on the automobile and boosts the use of train combined with last-mile self-driving busses, for instance. For this to be viable, the urban planning should envisage the necessary infrastructure. This is just another example of the importance of mobility in our societies and the complexity we will face when implementing the proposed solutions.

3:34Skip to 3 minutes and 34 secondsE-cooltra is one of the largest mobility service providers, and it offers their customers the possibility of renting an electric scooter per minute to move around the city. It includes the helmets, insurance, battery and maintenance. The service is based on mobile application. Their business model is based on a only simple price of 0,24 € per minute, without sign-up fee or any variable costs. Som Mobility (we are mobility) is a consumer cooperative that reinvests all profits in new projects for more sustainable mobility through local communities. It was recently founded in Barcelona and the model is following other successful cooperative initiatives in energy and telecommunications.

4:19Skip to 4 minutes and 19 secondsThe business model is based on a subscription fee of 10 euros and a variable cost of 0,10 €/kWh. Som Mobilitat includes all the costs related to the service mobility, both car and motorbike. It is necessary to be an active consumer to engage with other members of the community. This is not only a personal option, but also a collective one, that allows the members of the community to decide on the company’s future.

4:52Skip to 4 minutes and 52 secondsChanging the way we are moving in our daily life, but also during our pleasure periods, is a cultural change. But because of the impact on the human health and others costs related to buying a car, the mobility sector is moving from selling assets to provide services.

5:09Skip to 5 minutes and 9 secondsAt the end of the day, it is what matters the most: be able to reach your destiny, wherever it is. Collateral benefits are recovering public spaces for people, instead of private mobility, improving the quality of the air of our cities, new business models and, likely, new interactions among people.

The new mobility

The energy transition to a low carbon economy also implies the electrification of several fossil-fuel-based processes. Among others, transport is one of the net contributors to climate change. In this video, Professor Pep Salas will show some examples of the new mobility paradigm, with the cases of E-cooltra or SomMobilitat.